MIAMI (AP) — A contrite Ozzie
Guillen sat in the heart of Little Havana seeking forgiveness for what
the Miami Marlins manager called the biggest mistake of his life —
saying he admired Fidel Castro.

This wasn't some offhanded insult
about a sports writer, the type of thing that got the outspoken Guillen
in trouble in Chicago. This was personal to the fan base that the
Marlins rely on so much that they built their new stadium in the middle
of the city's Cuban-American neighborhood.

Castro is the sworn enemy of those fans.

So after being suspended for five games Tuesday, the Marlins manager tried to quell the tempest.

"I'm here on my knees to apologize," Guillen said.

"I'm
very sorry about the problem, what happened. I will do everything in my
power to make it better. ... When you make a mistake like this, you
can't sleep."

A chastened Guillen, who has a history of polarizing
comments about gays and immigrants, among others, spoke without a
script and made no disclaimers. He said he'll do whatever he can to
repair relations with Cuban-Americans angered by his praise of the Cuban
dictator, remarks he said he didn't mean.

Guillen, who is
Venezuelan, told Time magazine he loves Castro and respects the retired
Cuban leader for staying in power so long. In response, at least two
Miami politicians said Guillen should lose his job. Callers on
Spanish-language radio in Miami agreed and 100 demonstrators picketed
Marlins Park toting signs like "NO APOLOGIES FIRE HIM NOW."

"He is
full with hypocrisy," said Luis Martinez, who has lived in Miami since
the late 1950s. "I don't accept any kind of pardon from him. They should
get him out."

The team didn't consider firing Guillen or asking him to resign five games into his tenure, Marlins president David Samson said.

Guillen
was hired to help usher in a new baseball era for the Marlins, saddled
in recent years with mediocre teams and worse attendance. The team was
to rely on South Florida's large Cuban-American population to help
rebuild its fan base with the $634 million ballpark that opened last
week.

At the hourlong news conference Tuesday morning, there was
little evidence of Guillen's roguish charm or quick wit, which have made
him a favorite with fans and reporters since he became a major league
manager in 2004. Speaking somberly, he took full responsibility for his
comments, but said they were misinterpreted by Time's reporter.

"It
was a personal mistake of the thing I had in my mind and what I said,"
Guillen said in Spanish. "What I wanted to say in Spanish, I said in
English in a wrong way."

Guillen said he doesn't love or admire Castro.

"I was saying I cannot believe somebody who hurt so many people over the years is still alive," he said.

Time said Tuesday it stands by its story.

Guillen said the uproar he created has left him sad, embarrassed and feeling stupid. He said he accepted the team's punishment.

"When you're a sportsman, you shouldn't be involved with politics," he said.

"I'm
going to be a Miami guy for the rest of my life. I want to walk in the
street with my head up and feel not this bad, the way I feel now."

Government
and sports officials in Cuba had no immediate comment. But on Twitter, a
pro-government blogger said the reaction to Guillen's praise of Castro
showed diversity of opinion wasn't always welcome in the United States.

"I thought that in 'democratic' countries the serious judgment of others was respected," read one tweet from the blogger.

Guillen
has gotten in trouble before on issues ranging from sexual orientation
to illegal immigration. Just last week, he boasted about getting drunk
after games.

Those episodes quickly faded. But on South Florida's
scale of political incorrectness, praise for Castro is a home run, and
it was unclear how long it would take for anger toward Guillen to
subside.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said the remarks "have no
place in our game" and were "offensive to an important part of the
Miami community and others throughout the world."

"As I have often
said, baseball is a social institution with important social
responsibilities," Selig added in a statement. "All of our 30 clubs play
significant roles within their local communities, and I expect those
who represent Major League Baseball to act with the kind of respect and
sensitivity that the game's many cultures deserve."

Marlins officials said Guillen still had the support of the organization.

"We
believe in him," said Samson, the team president. "We believe in his
apology. We believe everybody deserves a second chance." He said he
expected no further punishment from MLB.

Guillen apologized over
the weekend after his remarks were published in Time, then left his team
in Philadelphia, where the Marlins were playing the Phillies, and flew
to Miami.

The teams resume their three-game series Wednesday in
Philadelphia. Guillen said he'll be there to apologize to his players,
but he won't be in the dugout. Bench coach Joey Cora will be the interim
manager.

"The Marlins acknowledge the seriousness of the comments
attributed to Guillen," read a statement from the team. "The pain and
suffering caused by Fidel Castro cannot be minimized, especially in a
community filled with victims of the dictatorship."

The
suspension, which takes effect immediately, recalled the punishment
given to Marge Schott, the late owner of the Cincinnati Reds. Schott so
embarrassed baseball in the 1990s with her inflammatory racial remarks
and fond recollections of Adolf Hitler that she was suspended from
ownership duties for a season.

"After spending years of my life with Ozzie
Guillen, I can honestly say he has never been this apologetic," tweeted
former slugger Frank Thomas, who played for Guillen with the Chicago
White Sox. "I know he is really hurting inside for what he said. If you
really know him this was not his intentions at all."

About 100
reporters, photographers and cameramen attended Guillen's news
conference, a turnout to rival some late-season Marlins crowds in years
gone by.

Guillen sat alone at the podium and began in Spanish,
speaking without notes for several minutes before taking questions.
Shortly after he started, his voice wavered mid-sentence. He paused to
take a sip of water and clear his throat.

"This is the biggest mistake I've made so far in my life," Guillen said.

Guillen
spoke in Spanish for about 80 percent of the news conference. Guillen
said he was suspended without pay, but Samson later said the manager
will be paid and will donate the money to Miami human-rights causes.

Polarizing
comments are nothing new for Guillen, who once used a gay slur
referring to a sports columnist, defended illegal immigrants and just
last week said he drinks to excess after road games and has done so for
years.

Guillen twice appeared on a radio show hosted by Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez in October 2005, when Guillen led the White Sox
to the World Series championship. Chavez, who has been getting medical
treatment in Cuba for cancer, is unpopular with many Venezuelans,
especially those living in the United States.

At the time, Guillen said: "Not too many people like the president. I do."

___

Associated
Press writers Janie McCauley in San Francisco, Peter Orsi in Havana and
Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this report.

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